The Daily Breeze has produced the final newspaper at its Torrance Boulevard home of more than 40 years.

Today’s edition was the last put together at the plant with the distinctive blue-tile facade at Torrance and Palos Verdes boulevards.

The $2 million building was state-of-

the-art when it was dedicated on Jan. 26, 1965.

“This building holds countless memories for the thousands of employees who have worked here over the last 44 years,” Editor Phillip Sanfield said. “We’ve produced about 16,000 daily editions of the Breeze from these offices. That’s a lot of news and a lot of effort.”

The newspaper will open its doors to the public Monday for the first time at its new home just a few blocks away in the former CompuTax building near the southeast corner of Torrance and Hawthorne boulevards.

The main telephone number remains 310-540-5511 and the hours the newspaper’s offices are open weekdays – from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. – also are unchanged.

“I’m extremely pleased we’re moving to a prime location and remaining in the heart of Torrance,” Publisher Mark Ficarra said. “This move is great for our employees, our business and the community. I’m particularly grateful to Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center for being a gracious landlord these past two years.”

The hospital, which acquired the almost 7-acre parcel in 2007, has received approval to build medical office condominiums at the site in two phases.

“We hope to break ground in the fourth quarter of the year,” said Ruth Ip, director of real estate.

At least some of the 8,000 square feet of tile on the old building’s facade will be incorporated into the exterior or interior of one of the new buildings, she said.

The newspaper began moving to its Torrance Boulevard site from Redondo Beach in 1961, when a 432-ton press purchased from the Fresno Bee cranked up to print what was then a 30,000-circulation newspaper.

The remainder of the newspaper’s operations moved to the facility four years later.

In 2005, the newspaper began printing its 65,000 daily copies in Gardena, and now the newsroom, advertising and other departments will also move.

“We’re looking forward to starting fresh in remodeled offices with plenty of windows,” Sanfield said. “But I think we’re all going to miss this place.”

Nick Green is the longtime soccer columnist for the Southern California Newspaper Group and covers Torrance, Lomita and the craft beer industry for the Daily Breeze. He also blogs about soccer at www.insidesocal.com/soccer, the local craft beer scene at www.insidesocal.com/beer and the South Bay at blogs.dailybreeze.com/southbay/. The native of England lives in Old Torrance with his wife and two cats.

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